Monday’s planning tip for authors

The first step in planning a book is to identify a problem that needs to be solved. Often, the problem that is staring you right in the face. Last week, listening to Richard Bolles describe the origins of What Color Is Your Parachute?–his 10-million copy international best-seller–it struck me how frequently authors I interview mention how their life-transforming books originated in challenges they personally had observed.

During the 1970s, as Richard Bolles described, the college pastors he was advising were losing their jobs. He wrote the first edition of his book to help them, and the rest is history.

The day before, Jill Konrath, discussing the origins of her career-transforming Selling to Big Companies, similarly described the origins of her book in personal experiences shared with her friends and coworkers. Recognizing that traditional sales skills were no longer effective, she developed a process to break through the barriers of unreturned phone calls and unread mail.

What this leads up to, of course, is that your career-transforming book’s mission is probably located in a challenge that you are facing, have faced, or you’ve observed in others. You may not have solved the problem, but you must be actively aware of its existence. Writing a book to solve an observed problem may be the step you need to take to transform your career.

The key is not just to be vaguely aware of a shared problem, but determine to do something about the problem!

Taking inventory
Take the time, right now, to make a list of the problems you’re facing, have faced, or see others facing:

• Describe the problems you’re and others are facing, or have faced?
• What are the causes of the problems?
• How did you, or others, solve the problems?
• Can you identify the steps needed to solve the problems?

The best books are those that address problems. Often, the authors write the books to explore the problems and practical solutions. You don’t have to know the solution before you write the book–or create a blog to explore possible solutions. But, you do have to take the time to state the problems and commit to sharing a solution.